The present invention relates to fishing rod holders and the like, and in particular to a fishing rod holder including a quick-release adjustment mechanism.
Fishing rod holders are used in recreation and sport fishing to hold fishing rods and associated fishing reels in a preselected position, thus allowing hands free use of the fishing rod/reel combination. Some such fishing rod holders allow the user to adjust the position of the fishing rod relative to a horizontal plane, thereby changing the angle formed between the fishing rod and the horizontal plane.
Heretofore, adjustment of such fishing rod holders has been somewhat clumsy and/or inefficient. Some designs for fishing rod holders have incorporated the use of two mating ratchet halves with threaded adjustment screws that hold the ratchet halves in matable contact with one another. To adjust the such fishing rod holders, the user must unscrew the adjustment screw to the point where clearance between the ratchet halves is sufficient to allow adjustment of the fishing rod holder. The user then adjusts the position of the fishing rod holder to a new desired position, and must then retighten the adjustment screw. This method of adjustment can be rather inefficient and inconvenient.